Available Placements for PTUK Students
Clinical placements are an essential part of training in therapeutic play skills and play therapy.
They provide an excellent opportunity for organisations working with children to assess the effectiveness
of these interventions in a safe way and at little or no cost. They are not intended as a low cost way of
funding services over a longer period.
It is vital that organisations providing placements observe the PTUK standards and that there is a
contract that clearly defines the responsibilities of the trainee and the placement organisation, that
satisfies the trainee's clinical supervisor and the training provider.
Two documents are available for downloading:
Trainee Placement Policies and Guidelines
A Specimen Placement Agreement
Below are details of placements for PTUK students.
The Annex Project, Woking
All Saints' Centre, Medway
Cedar Counselling
Blythe House, Derbyshire
As part of The Annex Project (TAP) we have negotiated with Berkshire based schools to supply a therapeutic
service within schools. The pilot for this is well underway and we are looking to offer PTUK students the
opportunity of a placement within our organisation from September 2013.
Although The Annex is a relatively new organisation I was instrumental in developing maintaining a comparable
service for 5 years within the Local Authority and all our trainees went on to be offered paid employment.
We are hopeful we will be able to replicate this within TAP.
We are an expanding service who works therapeutically with children and families within schools and
communities. We have designated therapy rooms although our trainee placements would be primarily in schools.
Our schools will provide a suitable room and understand the importance of privacy.
Our trainees will receive clinical supervision, line management and access to our in-house training and
experience being part of a multidiscipline therapeutic team.
We are looking for 5 students who need both short-term and long-term placements, ideally with some experience
of working directly with children.
We will be holding interviews on Tuesday 28th May from 11.00 – 2pm and would invite students to send their
CV’s to
TAP@theannexproject.com and visit our website
www.theannexproject.com
if they would like to know more about our services.
In 2006 a play therapy journey started, not only for a child but also for a number of children’s centre
practitioners who, after a taster session, embarked on the PTUK Certificate training. In our reach area
the majority of families live with significant and multiple disadvantage. This impacts on children’s
emotional well-being and they do not always flourish as they could. We recognised that this training
would have a significant impact on our capacity to meet the situations we faced on a daily basis.
The Certificate course was challenging but rewarding, with schools gladly supporting our request for
placements, life was busy and we felt we were starting to make a difference albeit in a small way.
The PTUK Diplomas followed, with continuing support from schools, some of whom created their own
therapeutic spaces for us to use. Word had spread, however, and more agencies were requesting play
therapy interventions for vulnerable children. Two years ago All Saints Children’s Centre found a
small space for a therapy room at the centre.
Since then demand has grown even further, more space has been found and a second therapy room has just
been created.
We no longer have a little therapy service; we are becoming a therapeutic centre. It has taken time and
our journey has not been easy, but our vision is our strength. Every child who travels with us will be
given time to heal, in a space that enables healing, with a therapist who knows and understands how the
hurts need time to be, to heal, to strengthen and then to grow. What a privilege our journey with these
children is.
If you are a trainee looking for a placement, and would like support to grow as a therapist within a
team of therapists, we maybe able to help. Our journey continues as we develop our much-needed service
but we are happy to share our story so far.
For more information about our centre or a placement please contact Eileen Braham, 01634-338833,
Eileen.braham@medway.gov.uk.
Cedar Counselling is a low cost counselling service based in Solihull, Birmingham, Manchester and Coventry.
Our specialism is working with children and families and our team of play therapists work creatively to help
children live more fully. We work a lot with children who have experienced mild to severe traumas from
parental separation to early abuse. We have close contact with both Solihull and Birmingham children’s
services and see many children who are subject to child in need and child protection plans. Our aim, with
many of our families, is often to enhance attachments between caregiver and child and to help the child
healthily communicative their feelings. We have good relationships with a number of primary school
throughout Birmingham and tend to work closely with teachers/educational staff as well as caregivers. We
also deliver pioneering mother-child therapy in four main children’s centres, helping mums and dads attune
to their children, using a wide range of creative and Theraplay approaches.
An important part of Cedar Counselling’s work is to adopt the whole family approach working in close
collaboration with the child and the caregiver (s) and other professionals involved. It is not uncommon for
a family to be assigned two therapists that work together to help each part of the family- individually and
collectively- to thrive rather than survive both lovingly and nurturefully.
We believe passionately in the power of play. Based on the latest neuroscience, Cedar Counselling gives much
importance to the transformational impact play therapy has on a child’s capacity to express feelings, resolve
trauma, self-regulate and relate to self/others.
We are proud to offer supported placements to play therapy students as well as paid work to qualified play
therapists. This enhances the work we do and, importantly, gives us the opportunity to contribute towards
the development and growth of trainee play therapists. Cedar Counselling adheres to PTUK’s trainee placement
policies and procedures.
For more information please visit:
www.cedarcounselling.co.uk
If you would like an application form please contact Charlotte Mason (placement administrator) on 0121 6059260
or e-mail
admin@cedarcounselling.co.uk.
Blythe House is a small hospice, situated in the beautiful High Peak area of Derbyshire. We have an expanding
children and families service, which works with children who are effected by bereavement or a terminal illness
in the family. We have a play room and work with children aged from 4 to 18 years old, using a variety of
approaches including, play, art and talking. All children are assessed by Lindsay Dobson, who is the Children
and Young People’s counsellor here at Blythe house and trained in therapeutic play with PTUK. STQs are used,
before therapy and every six sessions throughout until the end of therapy – to give us a view of progress. At
all points working is joined up with parents and school, to help us all provide the best support we can for
each child. Confidentiality is however maintained unless we have agreed to share certain information with the
child. Support, advice and training is also offered to anyone who may be supporting a child in these
situations.
We are offering two one year long placements starting in September 2012 and ideally would like students who
have had previous experience of working with children, in particular with children who have experienced loss.
Placements are on a purely voluntary basis, but we do offer monthly group supervision on Tuesday evenings and
free attendance on our training days at the Hospice.
If you feel that you would like a placement here, gaining experience of working with children who are
experiencing loss and grief and allowing them to have a space to explore and express their feelings – please
contact Lindsay Dobson on
Lindsay.dobson@blythehouse.co.uk
or on her direct line of 01298 816993 and leave a message.
